This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Oil and natural gas have a profound effect on modern economies and societies. In order to meet the demand for such natural resources, numerous companies invest significant amounts of time and money in searching for, accessing, and extracting oil, natural gas, and other subterranean resources. Particularly, once a desired resource is discovered below the surface of the earth, drilling and production systems are often employed to access and extract the resource. These systems can be located onshore or offshore depending on the location of a desired resource. Such systems generally include a wellhead assembly through which the resource is extracted. These wellhead assemblies generally include a wide variety of components and/or conduits, such as blowout preventers (BOPs), as well as various control lines, casings, valves, and the like, that control drilling and/or extraction operations. Valve removal plugs (VR plugs) may be used to plug a fluid passageway and maintain pressure in the wellhead assembly (e.g., an annulus around a production bore), such that a valve (e.g., a gate valve, a ball valve, etc.) may be installed behind the VR plug. The VR plug may then be removed and fluid may flow to the valve. Typically, a pressure containment flange is placed behind the VR plug in order to maintain two barriers between the bore hole and/or well fluids and the external environment. Unfortunately, when a VR plug becomes loose, fluid may potentially leak from the wellhead assembly into a volume between the VR plug and the containment flange. When this occurs, operators are no longer able to maintain two barriers and removal of the pressure containment flange may result in release of bore hole and/or wellhead fluids unless the well has been “killed”, negatively affecting the productivity of the well.